The Cries of Evening

The Cries of Evening is a romantic novel of enduring love, where very little is as it seems. It follows the lives of the charismatic James Fielden, a bohemian with no desire to conform to society’s mores, and beautiful Rachel Kleinman, who makes her way through her teenage years assisted by an aunt and uncle. Both of these characters exist within a small group of people, all of whom are flawed in some way or other. James makes his life in the picturesque Cornish village of St Quenn, but can his story be believed given his inclination towards fabrication? Rachel is also not all she seems and is affected by personal loss and her chaotic early life. As a result, her adult years are riddled with guilt and governed by a series of dilemmas, over moral probity and the contingency of circumstance. With separate accounts by the main protagonists, the reader must decide whose version of some events to believe. Or, is the one ‘independent’ narrator telling the truth? Set mainly in London and Cornwall, a strong poetic element runs throughout the novel. The sexual spectrum, loss and a degree of philosophising all underpin the joy and tragedy that feature throughout this story.